Genetically encodable bioluminescent system from fungi.
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Kotlobay, Alexey A
Sarkisyan, Karen S
Mokrushina, Yuliana A
Marcet-Houben, Marina
Serebrovskaya, Ekaterina O
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Bioluminescence is found across the entire tree of life, conferring a spectacular set of visually oriented functions from attracting mates to scaring off predators. Half a dozen different luciferins, molecules that emit light when enzymatically oxidized, are known. However, just one biochemical pathway for luciferin biosynthesis has been described in full, which is found only in bacteria. Here, we report identification of the fungal luciferase and three other key enzymes that together form the biosynthetic cycle of the fungal luciferin from caffeic acid, a simple and widespread metabolite. Introduction of the identified genes into the genome of the yeast Pichia pastoris along with caffeic acid biosynthesis genes resulted in a strain that is autoluminescent in standard media. We analyzed evolution of the enzymes of the luciferin biosynthesis cycle and found that fungal bioluminescence emerged through a series of events that included two independent gene duplications. The retention of the duplicated enzymes of the luciferin pathway in nonluminescent fungi shows that the gene duplication was followed by functional sequence divergence of enzymes of at least one gene in the biosynthetic pathway and suggests that the evolution of fungal bioluminescence proceeded through several closely related stepping stone nonluminescent biochemical reactions with adaptive roles. The availability of a complete eukaryotic luciferin biosynthesis pathway provides several applications in biomedicine and bioengineering.
Date Issued
2018-12-11
Date Acceptance
2018-11-01
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 2018, 115 (50), pp.12728-12732
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Start Page
12728
End Page
12732
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA
Volume
115
Issue
50
Copyright Statement
© 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30478037
PII: 1803615115
Subjects
bioluminescence
fungal luciferase
fungal luciferin biosynthesis
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Biosynthetic Pathways
Caffeic Acids
Cell Line
Cell Line, Tumor
Female
Fungi
Gene Duplication
HEK293 Cells
HeLa Cells
Humans
Luminescent Proteins
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Sequence Alignment
Xenopus laevis
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2018-11-26